Savoring Summer Faves

2 weeks from today I will meet my new group of special needs kindergartners............

it's hard to believe we are approaching the end of August and the end of summer vacation.

I'm savoring each day....each evening...each experience.........

and finding the blessings in these long, lazy days.....

won't you join in by linking up with Susanne and the other Friday Fave Five bloggers?

Because I was traveling to and from Boston last week to help our oldest move back onto campus, the following faves are from the last 2 weeks...........

Moreau Lake State Park
Claire on the right with her little cousins:
 Emma (age 11) and Mermaid Mady (age 6)
8 August

• LAKE DAYS!!  We've been enjoying the NYS Empire Passport which gets us into most state parks/lakes and oh how much fun we have had this summer!  My youngest sister Jill and her 2 little girls met Claire (age 15) and I at one of our very fave lakes for a fun afternoon of sun, sand, and swimming.  The weather was just perfect!  The older girls had a blast burying Mady and shaping her into a "mermaid".  This was our 4th time at this particular lake this summer and we also spent time this past week at another fave lake with Claire's school friend, Suzanna.

Great Sacandaga Resevoir/Northhampton Beach
Southern Adirondacks
19 August

Courtney's home for her final year
15 August

apartment kitchen

• FINAL YEAR! Last Friday, our oldest gal, Courtney, filled her car.   The rest of us filled my husband's SUV and I drove it to Boston while Claire rode with her big sis. (Dave had the Global Leadership Summit to attend so couldn't help this year).  We had a very long drive which definitely is NOT the blessing here.....the Boston traffic on a summer Friday afternoon is NOT pleasant.  Going up route 128 from the Mass Pike to the Gordon College campus typically takes us about 45 minutes.  That day it took us 2 1/2 hours on top of the 3 hours from our house across the state of MA.  NOT fun.  But we arrived safely and helped her set up her on-campus apartment.  One of her 4 roomies helped us move in (the other 4 girls won't move in until later next week) and I then treated the girls to a late dinner at this fave place. Claire and I spent the night in the apartment with her, and then we went out for breakfast at this lovely tea house. Courtney declined going out for breakfast as she had to get other things done.  She officially doesn't start classes until next week, but because she is an Orientation Crew Leader for incoming freshmen, she has this week of training and prep.  Oh how I miss her already!!  It's a blessing that she is able to attend this high ranking Christian college but I am not ready for her to be a senior!!  I pray for her daily.

  

• HANDMADE  GIFT!  No, this gift wasn't handmade by me or for me.  I discovered this person via the FFF group.  She made me two of these hats for a friend of mine who is battling cancer. I was thrilled when she told me the low cost and absolutely delighted when I received not one, but two, hats in the mail from her last week!  My youngest daughter claimed one of them (a different shade of blue to this one pictured above).  The work is exquisite.  And since I'm not a knitter, I was so thankful to be able to purchase this for my friend.  I can't wait to surprise her with it.  What a blessing to "meet" other bloggers in this way.

Ready to climb Wakely Mt!
9 August
l-r:  new friend Rebecca, me, Cheryl
photo courtesy of Cheryl A Blask and taken by Richard Fey

Wakely Mt. Fire Tower
Central Adirondacks

• HIKING!   So, technically, I shouldn't have climbed this 3,754 foot high mountain because I am still recovering from fasciitis in my right foot. I had a LOT of pain.  It took over a week to fully recover. It just about did me in, on the climb down.  Even the climb up was much more difficult (although exactly like all the trail  books and websites said) than I anticipated.  It is one of the "high peaks" of NYS...in fact, out of the 100 highest mountains in the Adirondacks, this one ranks as #67.  SO.....I have now climbed, since 2004, 12 Adirondack mountains that contain fire towers (and numerous other mountains that don't have the towers, along with hundreds of lake,pond, and waterfalls trails).  I feel sad that I can't finish the Fire Tower Challenge this summer....and all because of this fasciitis problem that is SLOWLY healing...much too slow in my opinion! The blessing with this fave is that I met 2 new hiking friends, spent the day with my awesome childhood friend who actually organized the hike, and got to check off another mountain from the list! It was a long, hard 6 miles but we did it!!  I now have only 6 mountains left to do in the Adirondacks and 2 in the Catskills.  I think, based on the chiropractor's report, that I can do one more this autumn....if I wrap my arch/foot in Rock Tape.  So, I've ordered some and hopefully it will help me hike better.  My husband couldn't do this one with me but he has told me he can hike this fall.....I'm really looking forward to it and I plan on being very careful until then!!  It is a huge blessing to live so close to my beloved mountains.

looking towards the Central Adirondacks
from the summit of Wakely Mountain
(photo courtesy of Richard Fey)

along the trail up to the summit

• KINDERGARTEN!  I received my letter from the school district last week stating that I was assisting in kindergarten for the new year.  Glory to God!  I have loved being with the 1st and 2nd graders for the last 3 years but I really wanted to go back to the K level so I could actually teach......yes, I'm a TA but in the kindergarten class which is an inclusion class, the gen ed teacher doesn't mind when I teach a small group.  I love being able to keep my hands in special ed and not have all the paperwork I did when I was teaching in my own classroom.  This job gives me the pleasure of the little ones, along with using my special ed skills and knowledge.  It's going to be a great year...and the kindergarten team is the original team of people I first started working with when I took this TA job (minus one gal). The head teacher, a male, is excellent with the kids and I love that he is flexible and allows me to work with as many special needs kids in the class that I want.  The other blessing is that the little boy I worked with at the end of the school year last year, will be in the class....I get to continue to work with him!! I think it is going to be a great change for me even though I do still have to work full time to help pay those college bills!!

That wraps up my last 2 weeks......

......we continue to enjoy lazy mornings, afternoons at the lake, shopping trips for back to school clothes and supplies (almost done with that!), bbq dinners, coffee on the deck, reading and blogging time......badminton in the backyard....chats and lunches with friends..........biking.....swimming, visits to the chiropractor (but thankfully I am now down to just once a week or every other week!), long movie nights with daughter and hubby, working in my flower gardens, and slowly starting to work out again......

God is good all the time and all the time, God is good!!

Enjoy the remaining days of August, everyone!!